Convicted felon Sylvester Cunningham, 41, from Blue Island, Illinois, has been sentenced to 7 years in federal prison for possessing a gun and drugs at a Cedar Rapids Wal-Mart.
According to the investigation, on August 7, 2020, Cunningham entered the Wal-Mart store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and was seen moving from his wheelchair into a shopping cart. A Wal-Mart employee discovered a .357 caliber revolver hidden in Cunningham’s wheelchair during a search of the area. The employee alerted an off-duty police officer, who retrieved the gun and arrested Cunningham.
During the arrest, officers found 13 individual baggies of crack and powder cocaine concealed in Cunningham’s clothing. The evidence at trial showed that Cunningham had intended to distribute the drugs.
Cunningham had prior felony convictions, including operating while intoxicated in Illinois in 2004 and being a felon in possession of a firearm in the federal district court for the Northern District of Iowa in 2012. In the 2012 case, Cunningham was found in possession of a rifle after crashing a car he was driving in Cedar County, Iowa.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), an evidence-based program aimed at reducing violent crime. The PSN program focuses on identifying the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and developing comprehensive solutions to address them.
Sylvester Cunningham’s sentencing occurred on July 13, 2021, after a guilty verdict was reached in a two-day trial. He was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possessing crack and powder cocaine with the intent to distribute, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and Special Assistant United States Attorney Devra Hake, and investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department and the Cedar Rapids Safe Streets Task Force.
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Key Facts
- State: Iowa
- Category: Violent Crime|Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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